Category: Uncategorized
A Note on LinkedIn Requests
Today I’ve been feeling under the weather again so I wanted to address a little thing that I’ve really failed at for the whole three years I’ve been blogging: LinkedIn.
Lately I’ve been getting several requests to connect with various people on LinkedIn, some of whom I know, some I don’t. They’ve been from authors and publishers, editors and illustrators and they all have one thing in common: my amazement at the fact I received them. It’s flattering. It really is flattering to know that some people would like to connect on a more professionally-oriented network.
But at this time I will not be accepting any invites onto LinkedIn. I currently do not have a profile and do not wish to have one. If at some point in the future I do get one it will be connected to my actual career and not my admittedly awesome and time-consuming hobby. So while it’s flattering that some of you want to connect with me on LinkedIn, I won’t be accepting any invites in the future either. It’s absolutely nothing personal and I didn’t mean to ignore your requests but none of the invitations I’ve received in my email link to a polite refusal button of some sort.
Sorry for not clarifying that sooner.
Reader Request Week 2015 #0.5: Previously Asked Questions
As I mentioned in my initial question-submitting post, I didn’t exactly get to answer many of your questions. In fact, I only ended up answering one, which you can find using this link. So I wanted to go back and properly answer all of the questions I didn’t get to last year.
Harliqueen asked me:
What made you want to start a review blog and what keeps you going on with it?
If I’m being completely honest here (as I try to be), I have no idea what made me want to start a review blog. I’m serious. One night I was lying awake in bed with an unusually bad bout of insomnia and it just popped into my head that I should start a book blog. Then, the next day when I got seriously thinking about things I thought it would be a great idea. I could connect with fellow readers, something that never happens in my small, geographically isolated village. And I could get free books eventually. Wouldn’t it be cool if people actually wanted to read about my thoughts on books?
Fast forward to now three years later where 1,220 people wanted to read what I write about books enough to click the follow button. My large-to-me readership is part of what keeps me going but it fundamentally comes down to a love of books. I love talking about books, writing about books and sharing my opinions about books with other readers. We have some great debates here on The Mad Reviewer and I really couldn’t be happier about the awesome commenting community I have. Not everyone comments and that’s cool with me as well; some of you just lurk, some of you like to tweet or retweet links to my posts, some of you are authors waiting for a review from me. It doesn’t really matter to me why people read my blog, I just love the fact that they do and I get to share my love of books with so many people.
Emily Guido asked me:
That was a great question but my question is kind of weird. I just want to know as a reviewer, like to actually just read to read. I write, yes… but I review books or beta read for other struggling authors. But sometimes, I just like to download a book and just fall into it and not think about reviewing or beta reading or anything else. I guess that keeps me sane and I escape! I’m a big fan of yours! Great blog! Lots of love, Emily
Yep, sometimes I just love to download a book and not even think of reviewing it as well. I review a lot of the books I read but there are certain types of books that I really don’t like reviewing on my blog, so I don’t. The number one thing that comes to mind is erotica and/or trashy romances. Sometimes I just want a guilty pleasure read and so I download some (usually) pretty awful free erotica novels and short stories off of Amazon or read some of the fifty cent romance books I picked up at the local bookstore before it closed. In the latter books, the heroine and the hero of each novel is pretty much interchangeable with not much character development and sometimes that’s just what you need! So yes, while I review 99% of what I read, that 1% can be some pretty awful writing and I absolutely love it once in a while.
Mark Lee asked me:
Ooh, how about this: what’s your all-time favorite book and why?
I think the book that is my all-time favourite in the sense that I’ve loved it for years would be any of the Harry Potter series. It had a huge impact on my childhood! (I distinctly remember being 11 and waiting for my owl from Hogwarts to come…) And now as an adult I went back and read the series and completely understand why my mother loved reading it and watching all of the movies with me. It’s great! It truly is magical and unique! The amazing thing about the Harry Potter series is not just how unique it really was when it came out but also how easy to relate to it was for people of all genders, races and age groups. Both myself and the boys in my class read the series in the third grade and loved it (of course not all of the books were even out then, so the series up until that point). And considering how little many of the boys in my class read, that was simply amazing.
Harry Potter just has a magic all of its own that has captivated almost everyone who reads the series. I happen to be one of them.
Now I feel much better about myself for finally having answered the questions you guys posed to me over a year ago. If you have any new ones or any follow up questions, head on over to my call for question submissions here and ask away!
Submit Your Questions for Reader Request Week 2015
Last year I tried to do one of these and had every intention of following through with it. Unfortunately, I ran it around the time I learned my boss’ diagnosis changed from ‘cancer-like and completely curable’ to ‘actual cancer and oh yeah, it’s terminal’. So not only was I in a state of emotional chaos I had to suddenly take on a lot more responsibility at work than I had ever expected. Therefore, I did one reader request post and nothing after that.
This year I actually want to do this and I want to do it properly. I will be answering most if not all of the questions you guys pose me and I will follow through on this commitment this time, unforeseen circumstances permitting. So let’s get to it!
If you have a question for me about blogging, time management, reviewing, author drama, completely off-topic fun stuff and/or personal stuff to a certain point, ask it in the comments below! Or, if you’d rather stay anonymous, drop me an email or use my contact page and I won’t link to your site or any social media profiles in my actual post.
Thank you guys so much for this opportunity and I hope you gain some insights into whatever it is you’re curious about, whether it’s me personally or my blog.
Lazy Sundays: Spring is Sprung
Since last year we had snow on the ground until the beginning of May, it was really surprising to actually have a spring on the official first day of spring (March 21) this year. Where I live in Saskatchewan we never have spring when it’s officially ‘spring’. That usually doesn’t happen until after Easter, sometimes later. But this year, seemingly to balance out the snow-based misery in lots of parts of the country, particularly the Maritimes, northern Saskatchewan has a spring! I even took some pictures today:
Yep, the snow has largely melted away and I couldn’t be happier. There’s still quite a bit of snow in my backyard where it’s sheltered by the shadow of the house, but overall the snow is on the outs. Now the thing causing everyone grief is the muck because only one road in town is paved and of course the frost melting makes gravel roads warp in very interesting ways. On the plus side, Tyrion is thoroughly enjoying being able to go outside for walks with me:
There he is, quite happily chewing on a piece of dried-up grass while waiting for me to put my shoes on.
So what does spring look like for you guys? Are you still stuck under several feet of snow or are you getting a proper string?
Discussion: Book Releases You’re Looking Forward To
Every avid reader has a series they just love and cannot wait to finish. The waiting, even though it’s usually only a couple of years, seems like forever. You obsessively check Goodreads to check and re-check the expected publication date, you talk to your fellow fans, you stalk the author’s blog just to see if they’ve made any announcement pertaining to their next book. Yes folks, that’s the level of obsession I’m talking about.
I’m really only that way with a few books. Most notably, The Winds of Winter by George R. R. Martin (which is not going to be released this year, argh!), Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen, Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir by Diantha Jones (hurry up, you crazy busy lady!) and whatever book comes after Shadow Dragon in the Shapeshifter Dragon series by Marc Secchia. I actually have rapport with the last two authors so I can playfully bug them once in a while but being able to do that makes the wait for traditionally published books even harder now. I can’t exactly email George R. R. Martin and ask when he’s finally going to write his next book!
So what books are you super looking forward to? Why? How long have you waited?